Can someone give me advice on which alto saxophone to get? I'm a middle aged guy who wants to learn to play

I plan to take lessons. I went to the music store today and to rent one is 50 bucks a month. Would it be better to go that route, or to buy a less expensive one?Can someone give me advice on which alto saxophone to get? I'm a middle aged guy who wants to learn to play
I am a middle-aged guy, a band director, and I used to work in sales at a music store. Percussion is my primary instrument, but I play sax a lot for the students at school. I use a 20-year-old Yamaha student model (YAS-21). It is built like a tank and produces a very acceptable tone. If it does break, parts are very easy to get and most music stores will service it. You can probably get one of these fairly inexpensively ($150-200 eBay) with little risk of being disappointed.





What is also important is starting with a good mouthpiece (Yamaha 4c or Selmer C-star) and appropriate reeds (I like Vandoren medium).





Good luck and have fun.Can someone give me advice on which alto saxophone to get? I'm a middle aged guy who wants to learn to play
I'm Selling A Vito Alto Saxophone. I Bought It For $4,000.00 And I Am Selling It For $1,600.00. If You Are Interested In It Email Me. I Am Looking To Sell It As Soon As Possible. Thanks. Shooting.stars19@yahoo.com

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I have a CONN sax... had it for 32 years when I left for college I came real close to buying a Yamaha sax. I am glad I didn't !!!!! Start with a cheaper one then you can look forward to buy a better one when you get better!!!
Just try out all of them get a good feel it will tell you. loan /borrow /rent couple of day`s each don`t try to play it, play with it you`ll know the one. or eventually end up with all.Several of my friends have!
You know the answer to this better than anyone. What type of person are you? Do you tend to start things and not finish them? If so, rent for a while and see if your going to keep going. If you've never played an instrument before I'd recommend renting. If it doesn't pan out then give the horn back to the store. Otherwise you have an investment and would have to sell it to get any money back. You should be able to arrive at a decision in the first couple of months. If you like it, and I'm sure you will, look into a intermediate Selmer or Yamaha. Don't go with a student level. Student level instruments are designed with young kids in mind. They make them to take the abuse of little kids banging them around and don't really emphasize quality. If you have the money burning a hole in your pocket go pro. However, it will take quite a while before you get to the playing level to take advantage of a pro horn and be able to tell the difference.
You'd be better off to buy one. You can usually find an alto sax new on ebay for around $200,(4 months rent) for a cheaper model. Also you can usually find a better sax like a conn, bundy or sellmer for about the same price. I do not recommend buying used on line. Sure it may look pretty and seem to be a heck of a buy, if the pads leak and or needs spring work, it can get expensive. If you go the used route, take a friend along that is knowledgeable if you don't know what to look for.